Hunter Thompson entered this terra incognita [the world of the Hell's Angels] to become its cartographer. For almost a year, he accompanied the Hell's Angels on their rallies. He drank at their bars, exchanged home visits, recorded their brutalities, viewed their sexual caprices, became converted to their motorcycle mystique, and was so intrigued, as he puts it, that "I was no longer sure whether I was doing research on the Hell's Angels or being slowly absorbed by them." At the conclusion of his year's tenure the ambiguity of his position was ended when a group of Angels knocked him to the ground and stomped him...

Hunter Thompson has presented us with a close view of a world most of us would never dare encounter, yet one with which we should be familiar. He has brought on stage men who have lost all options and are not reconciled to the loss. They have great resources for violence which doesn't as yet have any effective focus. Thompson suggests that these few Angels are but the vanguard of a growing army of disappropriated, disaffiliated and desperate men. There's always the risk that somehow they may force the wrong options into being.

This clip, which aired on Canadian television in 1967, describes the circumstances that led up to the Angels giving HST a beat down. The misogyny that's on display will make you shudder.

Hunter S. Thompson clearly made the mistake of trying to stand up for a battered woman and got beat up for it. Sonny Barger doesn’t have even a fraction of the wit or intellect of HST but takes over the interview by not letting Hunter get a word in edge wise. It shows that HST was spot on in his synopsis of the Angels as intimidating morons. Bottom line: Sonny Barger = King of a bunch of losers; HST = insightful and gifted literary mind. Read HST’s book and not Bargers because HST gained more insight into Barger’s club in one year than Barger did in a lifetime.

Just finished reading the book and decided to dig deeper into the ending confrontation at which point I came across this atrosity. I am astonished at the depravity of the audience. Honestly, who the hell laughs at someones old lady being beaten like a rug. And then on top of it kicking his dog…… what? And further still, Hunter doesn’t even get his side of the story in. Upsetting to say the least. Anyway, still trying to find an accurate portrayal of Hunters side, if anyone can help in the search???

HST is like the skinny kid who hangs out with the tough kids for a week and thereby enhances his prestige with the other 99% of kids simply because he went near the tough kids. Then he self-aggrandizingly distorts what actually happened and is called a literary genius for doing so. I respect the Hell’s Angels for at least being honest moron barbarians.

Hunter’s book will be 50 years old in two years. I just got finished reading it for the second time in 40 years. It is as contemporary as if it were were written last week. In his life he embodied more brains guts and integrity than the whole pack of so called outlaws he describes in this book. He will be read and remembered 50 years hence. How many of these vandals that he wrote about will be remembered for anything beyond his mention of them in this book. NONE.

Hunter S. Thompson is one of my hero’s. I am a print journalism major and think some of his work was, and will continue to be, the most influential ever written. I am proud to call him a fellow Kentuckian, and every year I work behind the lines, and right out in the middle of the chaos, of the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby. Like Hunter, I see with the right kind of eyes, the decadence and depravity he saw so many years ago. I am grateful for the legacy he has left behind and look forward to keeping him alive by recommending absolutely as many of his works as possible to anyone who will listen. For me, he is still alive because I have yet to read “Hell’s Angels” and look for to it with great anticipation. I have heard a decent about it because of a research paper I wrote on HST life. But in due time, I hope to make my way through this interesting and unusual work. I mean, could you see great journalist like Bod Woodward, Walter Cronkite, Ted Koppel, Sam Donaldson, or even Michael Moore reporting the in depth, nitty-gritty, in your face, no holds bars, leave no stone unturned type of stories that Hunter S. Thompson churned out. No, probably not. One of the main reasons is when Hunter saw bullshit, he called it bullshit. He didn’t dance around and give is pretty PC names like everybody wanted. Bullshit was bullshit, and the people needed to wake up and smell it! (And they still do!) I respect him for this, and live this philosophy in my own life. Yea, some people don’t like it, but others respect you and praise you for it. They think it is the brave, honorable, intelligent, whitty, sharp, fully conscience and aware action to exhibit. My biggest hope is that future generations take this to heart and don’t just follow orders. Think for yourself and learn to call bullshit when you hear it, and most of all, don’t be afraid to call “bullshit!” So long all you great patriotic Americans out there and don’t let the swine get you down!!! You are always in my thoughts and I’m
forever in your debt.

What’s truly horrifying is that American men and women are applauding the statement “Sometimes you have to beat a woman like a rug to keep her in line” as Hunter Thompson sits in disbelief.
It is as if they all agree that he was out of line for trying to stop it and that what matters most is that the business of an individual who does something like that remains private and protected. Sadly it seems to still be the mentality with so many Americans to this very day.
RIP
Hunter Thompson
You certainly earned and deserve some peace.

Hate to ruin your America bashing but those were canadians and that was canadian television. I’m sure the sentiment was the same in north america and europe at the time though but everyone’s come a long way toward changing their attitude towards violence against women. I’m sure you think it’s still rampant but that’s just bias and not fact.

Look at Hunter! He’s just a baby in this clip! Obviously, looks are deceiving; Colonel Thompson was anything but a “baby”. He spent over a year practically living with the Bay-area Hells Angels…! That took some serious cojones. I couldn’t have done it. Anyone who believes he was merely a skinny loser who hangs out with the tough guys just to counterfeit his cool is off their rocker.

My older brother had “Hell’s Angels”, so I knew who Hunter was, but it wasn’t until Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas that I learned to appreciate Hunter. A year or so after his Gonzo revelation, I think. He invented an entire new style/genre/technique, whatever you wanna call it: Gonzo is what it was! Someone else came up with that name, though. Everything else was all his. The first person reporting style that sits on about 3 or 4 different lines of literary intersection, that “writing-by-the-seat-of-your-pens” style–he was the master.

Depp tells a great story about one night in Colorado–Hunter told Johnny he’d (HST) meet him in a certain bar at midnight, and Depp was sitting in the back waiting for Hunter to arrive. The bar was packed. Johnny is looking out over the crowd, eyes toward the front door, when suddenly, he sees flashes of light, and then bodies flying through the air, people screaming, glass breaking…and sparks, lots of sparks! Then, he sees him. Hunter is working his way through the crowd, coming toward Johnny, holding a stun gun in one hand and an electric cattle prod in the other, waving them around and screaming “Get the Fuck out of my way, god dammit!!”.

Hunter Thompson was a mean drunk that enjoyed cruel practical jokes and was an abuser of women and children ( his own). Few would argue about his ability as a fine writer but his quality output was small. He squandered his gifts by abusing drugs and alcohol. He is hardly fit to be considered a hero and he is certainly guilty of the same behaviors that the Angels are being condemned for here.

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